Suara.com – North Korea (North Korea) canceled a law related to economic cooperation with South Korea (South Korea) amidst escalating tensions between the two countries.
According to a report by the North Korean news agency, KCNA, the cancellation of the law was decided at a plenary meeting of the North Korean parliament's standing committee on Wednesday (7/2/2024).
The legal basis for economic cooperation with South Korea that was canceled by North Korea includes the law on inter-Korean economic cooperation, on the Mount Kumgang special international tourism area and its implementing regulations, as well as the inter-Korean economic cooperation agreement.
The inter-Korean economic cooperation law, passed in 2005, is considered the basic foundation for such cooperation.
The law on the Mount Kumgang special area, which was passed in 2011, regulates in detail the investment of South Korea and other foreign entities in the area.
The decision came less than a month after North Korea disbanded national bodies that handled relations with South Korea, such as the National Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.
Institutions that were also disbanded were the body responsible for national economic cooperation as well as the Mount Kumgang tourism management body.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at a party meeting at the end of last year, said that the current inter-Korean relationship was a relationship between two hostile countries.
He also vowed to “conquer” South Korea in the event of an emergency.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Unification Ministry, which is responsible for relations with North Korea, said that North Korea's move was not surprising.
However, South Korea said that the decision would further isolate the country.
A ministry official said that South Korean authorities still had no plans to respond to North Korea's actions in the near future. He added that North Korea's unilateral decision did not necessarily cancel the economic cooperation agreement. (Between)